Table 2.
Percentage of nurses that provided specific aspects of palliative care to majority of their patients
| With the majority I have... | Hospital (n=105) |
Home care (n=229) |
Total (n=334) |
P* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Domain: physical care | ||||
| - Provided technical care (e.g. catheter or stoma care, wound care, administration of medication) | 77.1 | 94.8 | 89.2 | 0.000 |
| - Provided physical care (e.g. help with washing, eating, dressing) | 70.5 | 89.5 | 83.5 | 0.000 |
| - Provided complementary care (e.g. massage, heat application) | 11.4 | 16.6 | 15.0 | 0.219 |
| - Talked with the patient about the physical problems and required care | 62.9 | 91.3 | 82.3 | 0.000 |
| - Discussed end-of-life decisions (e.g. not initiating or discontinuing treatment, no more hospital admissions, euthanasia, assisted suicide) with the patient | 55.2 | 82.1 | 73.7 | 0.000 |
| Domain: psychological care | ||||
| - Paid attention to the patient’s psychological and emotional wellbeing (such as anxiety, sadness) | 81.9 | 98.3 | 93.1 | 0.000 |
| - Supported the patient in dealing with the impending death, saying goodbye to family, etc. | 65.7 | 91.3 | 83.2 | 0.000 |
| Domain: social care | ||||
| - Discussed with the patient the changing roles and responsibilities in the family, communication with family and friends, financial concerns | 31.4 | 58.5 | 50.0 | 0.000 |
| - Provided the patient with support in arranging practical matters regarding death (e.g. a memorial service, clothing that the client wants to wear after the death) | 12.4 | 36.2 | 28.7 | 0.000 |
| Domain: spiritual care | ||||
| - Talked to the patient about existential questions e.g. “what is still important to me in life?”, “why has this happened to me?” | 45.7 | 68.6 | 61.4 | 0.000 |
| - Offered the patient support in the practice of their religion or beliefs | 33.3 | 45.4 | 41.6 | 0.038 |
* Chi-square test